State pension for non-employed housewife?

pedebumchin

Hi,

I am in full-time employment, my wife is a housewife but is not employed (but does have a very important job!).

What I have tried (and failed) to find out via the official websites is how much I need to contribute to ensure that my wife receives the full state pension when we reach retirement age.

I think I read that I can contribute on her behalf but I am unsure how to go about it? Do I speak to my employer and start paying the contributions that way or is it done separately?

I know that she needs to meet the minimum number of qualifying years but how do I ensure that happens?

Your help and assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Torry_Quine

You can't make contributions towards her state pension. If she is in receipt of child benefit then NI credits are made up to a certain age of the child.

If she has not got her own contributions then she will be entitled to 60% of the state pension if you have reached pension age.

pedebumchin

Really? I am sure that I have read that you can make voluntary payments towards qualifying for a state pension. But not sure where to find out how much we need to pay, to whom or how we pay?

noh

pedebumchin wrote: »

Really? I am sure that I have read that you can make voluntary payments towards qualifying for a state pension. But not sure where to find out how much we need to pay, to whom or how we pay?

You can pay voluntary contributions
See here:- http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/volcontr/index.htm

zagfles

The HMRC site has loads on info on this http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/index.htm inc the class 3 (voluntary) rates.

McKneff

~Get you wife to contact the DWP and get a pension forecast and then come back on here to help further.

Torry_Quine

noh wrote: »

You can pay voluntary contributions
See here:- http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/volcontr/index.htm

The person themself can pay voluntary contributions but the OP can't pay them for his wife.

jem16

Torry_Quine wrote: »

The person themself can pay voluntary contributions but the OP can't pay them for his wife.

I should imagine that the OP means he will provide the money for his wife's contributions as he is the one earning and his wife does not.

Torry_Quine

jem16 wrote: »

I should imagine that the OP means he will provide the money for his wife's contributions as he is the one earning and his wife does not.

That's not what he said though, he said 'I can contribute on her behalf'.

gadgetmind

Getting a state pension forecast is the first stage as she might have more years than you expect.

Then decide if she'll be getting any more years via work when the nest is empty. If not, you can make up previous years via class 3.

I decided that class 3 was rather expensive and my wife has instead told HMRC that she's self-employed and she pays class 2 contributions. We chose a profession that actually made the car insurance cheaper, so it's win win!